Category: Student perspectives

Continuing our ‘Mentoring Month’ promotion this October, we caught up with one of our current law students and Freshfields Stephen Lawrence Scholar for 2019, Oli Carey. Oli outlines his six tips to ensure you get the most from your mentoring relationships.

Mentorship as an aspiring barrister or solicitor is an invaluable opportunity, but as a student it is understandably daunting at first.

The best thing you can do as a mentee and student is be as prepared as possible – after all, being a mentee is more than likely new to you. 

After being selected as 1 of 13 Freshfields Stephen Lawrence Scholars for 2019, I was lucky enough to be paired with a bench of 3 different mentors. I’ve spent the last year learning from each of their personal experiences and strengths through their unique experience and advice. This was my first experience of professional mentorship so it’s safe to say I’ve come a long way since then. 

The following are 6 tips for students to keep in mind at all stages of mentoring. Quotes from one of my mentors, an enforcement and regulatory lawyer for the Bank of England, are included in italics (these views are personal and do not reflect the views of the Bank).

1. Making first contact

There are many concerns that may run through your mind before contacting a mentor for the first time. What if you have nothing to say? What if they find you unimpressive? What if you don’t get along? These are all fair concerns – all of which can be avoided if planned for. 

Face-to-face meetings are always a great way to start things off, but (given the current circumstances) this is unlikely to be an option. You’re left with a phone call or an email. Lead with an email making it clear that you would like to schedule a phone call. Your goal is to get to know each other – this will be significantly easier over the phone. 

“Start off with simple questions that will get the mentor talking about themselves – what their first job was, whether they always planned to work in this field, how they chose it, how they approached essays, exams etc.” 

Be prepared to talk about yourself. It is important that they understand you and your goals. Let them know what your thoughts are regarding your career and in what areas you think they might be able to help. 

2. Agree on expectations

Things are going to be made a lot easier, on both sides, if there is agreement on expectations. This can be as basic as how often and by what means you are going to communicate. A suggestion that worked well for me was to have a call every 2/3 weeks – often enough to be able to ask pressing questions but not so often as to be a nuisance. 

As far as your expectations for the relationship, don’t expect that you are going to click immediately. In fact, you might never really click with your mentor. You should be expecting something between professional and friendly. As long as you are gaining something positive then you are on the right track. 

“I still got a lot out of being mentored by a former Court of Appeal judge, even if I was terrified the whole time!” 

3. Respect their time

A professional mentor in any sector is likely to be extremely busy. The onus is going to be on you to fit mentorship around this. 

Always take the lead on scheduling calls and be as flexible as you can. Remember that saying “any time” is not helpful – give specific dates that are going to work for you and then times you can’t do on those dates, as this will help the quick matching of schedules. Be clear that you are available early in the morning and late at night (this might be the only time available for some people). 

Expect them to have a very active inbox – don’t be offended if one of your emails is missed. If you haven’t received a reply after a week, send another email to draw their attention to the first. Good advice here is to remain cheerful and acknowledge that they must be very busy. It is very unlikely that your mentor is intentionally ignoring you. If you are unsure whether to follow up with another email do speak to the mentoring scheme organisers.  

4. Ask insightful questions

Make the most of your mentor’s experience and ask questions that really matter to you. Asking great questions will require some self-reflection and preparation. What are some current issues that matter to you? Does your mentor have some experiences that you think you could learn from? How has your mentor built a skillset that you admire? The more time you put into preparing questions the more productive your conversations are going to be.  

“Start off with practical questions like asking for feedback on your CV, job applications or essay topics… realise that mentors can be nervous too. They might not feel very confident about what they can offer the mentee, so focusing on something practical can help them unlock that. Imposter syndrome is a problem even for people who are very successful!” 

Another idea is to create the expectation that you will send a topic or question to your mentor some days in advance of a scheduled meeting. This both gives them time to prepare and gets you into the routine of preparing more thoroughly. 

5. Making the most of their time

Not only is your mentor likely to be busy, but they will also be more senior, knowledgeable, and experienced than you. Respect the fact that the time they take out of their day is a significant commitment. Show respect in being open to their feedback. Don’t be an energy drain for your mentor – take on feedback and show that you are implementing it where possible. 

Remember this is a two-way relationship and you should be looking to give something back to your mentor. Your mentor will appreciate your genuine interest in what they have to say. 

“Dialogue can be a space for the mentor to reflect not just on their own journey, but to practise listening and really challenge themselves to learn about the experiences – positive or negative – the mentee is having.” 

6. Keep things on track

It can be easy to let things slip as a mentee. You might get really busy with uni or work and not make any time to speak with your mentor. You might not have prepared before your meetings or have been putting a lot of energy or effort in. 

The solution to any of these problems is going to be obvious but you may need some convincing when the time comes. The longer you wait to fix it the more difficult things are going to be. Be honest with yourself about where you went wrong and contact your mentor ASAP. 

In summary

Each of my mentors has given me different insights over the last year, but all of them have helped me build a strong foundation for a professional network. My final tip would be to recognise the value that every supporter in your network brings. Having the support of such accomplished, experienced and (most importantly) unique people has given me great confidence in my academics, future career and all other facets of life. 

Further information

Securing a mentor can help you to develop key skills that employers are looking for, such as communication and personal skills, increase your confidence and motivation and provide you with an opportunity to delve deeper into an area of law or non-law that you are considering pursuing.

Many of the mentoring schemes on offer through the Law School close for applications at the end of October 2020, so make sure you read about each scheme before applying. Find out more about our various mentoring schemes and how to apply here.

As part of ‘Mentoring Month’ this October, we caught up with recent law grad, Haneet Sagoo on why she chose to apply for the Law in Society mentoring scheme and how it helped shape her career aspirations. Find out how you can do more with law below.

It’s safe to say that signing up to the Law in Society Mentoring scheme was one of the best decisions I made in my final year. Here I’ll tell you how it worked and why it was such a beneficial experience.

Who Should Apply?

Anyone who is thinking about what they’d like to do after uni and wants to explore their options! The scheme is especially great for law students who are looking at careers outside the straightforward commercial law route. For example, I wanted to explore a career in international humanitarian aid and I was able to match with a mentor with years of experience in that sector.

Getting started

I applied for the scheme because I’d always had an interest in human rights focused work but I didn’t know what the steps were to get there. So, when I heard about the mentoring scheme where you could be matched with a professional in a sector you were interested in, I jumped at the chance!

The scheme is set up in a really interactive way from the off. After applying through PLN and being matched with our mentor, we were invited to the introduction evening where we got the chance to meet our fellow mentees, chat about what we all wanted to get out of the experience and set up a plan for our first official meeting. Our mentor was working abroad at the time so we had a virtual mentorship – all this meant was that our meetings were on skype rather than in-person! You also have to appoint a team leader which I highly recommend putting yourself forward for if you’re looking to practice your organisational/admin skills.

Mentor Meetings

So, these were the main focus of the mentoring scheme and BY FAR one of the most important things I did in final year. Every group is different but our setup was just to come to the meeting with a few questions for our mentor as starting points and then let the conversation flow. The advice and insight we gained was invaluable and really helped me to narrow down what areas I’d be interested working in. We were also incredibly lucky in that our mentor was so engaged and would send follow up documents with links to internships, volunteer programmes etc. to do with things we had discussed. One of the best things to come out of the scheme for me was my mentor giving me a contact who was doing the same volunteering abroad that I was interested in – you don’t get this kind of career help every day!

Tips to make the most of your meetings:

• Build a set of questions between each meeting so you can get the most out of your time with your mentor, rather than just turning up for a chat!
• Follow up on any tips or leads your mentor gives you before your next meeting – this gives you a chance to build a good back-and-forth and helps your conversations to progress.
• Work as a team with your fellow mentees! Since you have similar interests they are the best people to collaborate with and talk to about your ideas for the future.

Why I Recommend the Scheme

Overall, I didn’t realise how much I needed the mentor scheme until I did it. Not only did it give me a chance to build connections and get advice directly from an industry professional, but I was also able to practice my communication and organisational skills. With graduation looming the pressure to know what you’re doing next can be intense but my advice is to get involved with schemes like this, explore your options and you’ll go forward with a much clearer idea of what you want!

Further information

Securing a mentor can help you to develop key skills that employers are looking for, such as communication and personal skills, increase your confidence and motivation and provide you with an opportunity to delve deeper into an area of law or non-law that you are considering pursuing.

The Law in Society Mentoring Scheme opens for applications on Monday 12 October. Many of the mentoring schemes on offer through the Law School close for applications at the end of October 2020, so make sure you read about each scheme before applying. Find out more about our various mentoring schemes and how to apply here.